China’s new policy allowing couples to have a second child is expected to increase Beijing’s population by 580,000 between 2017 and 2021, local authorities estimated.

China’s new policy allowing couples to have a second child is expected to increase Beijing’s population by 580,000 between 2017 and 2021(Agencies)

China’s new policy allowing couples to have a second child is expected to increase Beijing’s population by 580,000 between 2017 and 2021, local authorities estimated.

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning said the policy took effect on January 1. All born children born before December 31 are still subject to the former family planning policy, which limited most Chinese couples to one child.

Beijing is estimated to have 2.36 million more mothers who are eligible for a second child under the new policy, state-run China Daily reported.

Also, from January 1 on, newly married couples will not get additional marriage holidays as all have been deprived of the privilege for late marriage. That policy gave extra days off for couples where the husband was older than 25 and the wife 23, as a way to encourage people to reduce reproduction.

Beijing has over 21 million people making the largest city along with Shanghai. The new two-child policy will enable over 90 million couples all over China to have second child. The government has scrapped the three decades old one- child policy as the population of old people is on the rise at an alarming rate which in the coming years was expected to cause severe labour shortages in the country.